Monday, December 31, 2012

It's the last day of December so that means it's once again time to post my reading progress etc. It's also the last day of 2012 which means it's time to post my favorite books of the year.

This month I spent more time on getting my books sorted and catalogued than I did reading, but I still managed to get in a few pleasant (and not so pleasant) hours having my nose in a book. Australia was my target country for reading this month and here's how it went, with six books to show for my effort:

If you really want to know what I read this year, here's the link. Out of all of these books, there were a few that I've singled out as favorites for my own reasons, starting with

-- fiction --

I know I started out the year saying that Adam Johnson's The Orphan Master's Son would probably be #1 on my hit parade this year, but it got edged out of the top spot by Purgatory, written by Tomás Eloy Martínez. That one book has haunted me for the entire year. Following that one, in no particular order, are the novels I most admired this year:

Chinaman, by Shehan Karunatilaka

Narcopolis, by Jeet Thayil

The Teleportation Accident, by Ned Beauman

The Lighthouse, by Alison Moore

The Orphan Master's Son, by Adam Johnson

The Polish Boxer, by Eduardo HalfonBilly Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, by Ben Fountain

-- crime fiction --

My favorite crime fiction novel of the year isThe Minotaur's Head, by Marek Krajewski. I love the atmosphere this author creates in all of his books, and as I noted in my discussion of this book, Krajewski is a master of contrasting the "normal" world with "another world of dark and hidden places full of sadists, lunatics and morally warped madmen given to brutal appetites." Following Krajewski are

The Expendable Man, by Dorothy B. Hughes

No Sale, by Patrick Conrad

Entanglement, by Zigmunt Miloszewski

The Crime of Julian Wells, by Thomas H. Cook

--weird fiction/fantasy/sci-fi--

Taking a first in the fantasy category is Sacre Bleu, by Christopher Moore. While it sometimes verged into the inane, as I noted, what I didn't expect is an upended and off-kilter history of Impressionist art to go along with all of the rest of Moore's whimsical zaniness. After Sacre Bleu is

The Laundry Files Series, by Charles Stross:

The Atrocity Archives

The Jennifer Morgue

The Fuller Memorandum

The Apocalypse Codex

-- nonfiction --

Enemies: A History of the FBI, by Tim Weiner turned out to be my favorite nonfiction read this year. It's an eye-opening, well-researched and intelligently-constructed history of the FBI in its role as a "secret intelligence service." The book examines how the Bureau has long been operating outside of the rule of law -- "the foundation on which America was built", and offers its readers a look at the ongoing struggle and the fine line between national security and civil liberty.

*****

And now, the other book-related stuff:1) The book group read Mildred Pierce, by James M. Cain, which we liked as a group and which we discovered has pretty much nothing to do with the old movie starring Joan Crawford. January's book is Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro. That discussion should be intriguing!

2) Added to the Amazon wishlist this month (as usual, a lot of obscure titles):

crime fiction:

The Missing File, by D.A. Mishani

Happy Birthday, Turk!, by Jakob Arjouni

More Beer, by Jakob Arjouni

House of Evidence, by Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson

The Golden Calf, by Helene Tursten

general fiction:The Blind Man's Garden, by Nadeem Aslam

Constance, by Patrick McGrath

Ghana Must Go, by Taiye Selasi

Stalin's Barber, by Paul M. Levitt

Spilt Milk, by Chico Buarque

3) Books bought this month

Gulag: A History, by Anne Appelbaum

Wyllard's Weird, by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

4) Currently reading: Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy, by Douglas Smith (and so far, it's reallygood)

If you want one, some or even all of these books, be the first to leave a comment with the titles of the book(s) you want and a method of contacting you. In November's giveaway, only two people gave me a home address and got their books; for the others I didn't even get an email -- so I have the books still sitting here taking up valuable space. They're going to be re-offered next month if I don't hear from the parties involved.

1. The Heat of the Sun, by David Rain

2. Mildred Pierce, by James M. Cain

3. Waiting for Sunrise, by William Boyd

4. Eight Girls Taking Pictures, by Whitney Otto

5. You Deserve Nothing, by Alexander Maksik

6. A Partial History of Lost Causes, by Jennifer DuBois

****

that's it. Peace, health and prosperity are my New Year's wishes to all.

HI Nancy! I saw your post on goodreads about the books available. I would love Eight Girls Taking Pictures. I am in Canada though and would love to perhaps swap with you. Here's my email singitm(at)hotmail(dot)com I'll send you a message on goodreads as well so you can check my swap shelf. Thanks!

Thanks for your interest, but the person posting ahead of you took the whole bunch! I did make a note on goodreads about her taking them all. I will be doing this giveaway thing more frequently and I'll definitely include Canada. I'm sorry, really.

About Me

bottom line: I love to read.
I use this space to record and to talk about what I've read during the year. You won't see descriptions like "lush, lyrical prose" here ... I'm just an ordinary reader person who wants to share a love of the written word. I don't really "review" -- that's for the pros. I just offer opinions. Feel free to comment any time.